On Tue, 21 Apr 2009 11:24:11 +0100, "Ret." <xxx> wrote:

>I have a simply home network using a Medion laptop with draft n wireless LAN
>capability. I use this with a Linksys WAG160n router and this part of the
>network works perfectly.
>
>A few months ago I bought an Epson SX600FW wireless printer to use with the
>network. I set the printer up ok - and was able to print wirelessly to it
>without problem. A short time later, however, I found that the printer had
>'vanished' from the network and I was unable to print to it.

>The only way I
>could get it back was by re-booting the router - but once again, within a
>matter of hours, the printer went AWOL again.

The *ONLY* way was to reboot the router? Did you try to reboot the
printer or laptop?

How many hours? 1, 10, 100, 1000 hours?
What's the power save timeout on the Epson printer?

Give the Epson printer a static IP address. It's in the wireless
config for the printer, somewhere. This way, you're not relying on
the router to deliver a DHCP assigned IP address to the printer or for
the router to reassign the same IP address when the printer goes into
power save mode. Select an IP address that is NOT inside the DHCP
assigned IP address range, which appears to be 192.168.1.100 thru
192.168.1.151.

An alternative to this is to use a pre-assigned DHCP address that is
tied to the MAC address of the Epson network interface. However,
looking at the online emulator:
<http://ui.linksys.com/files/WAG160N/1.00.09/>
this feature is not present.

>I first spoke to Epson tech support but they claimed it must be a router
>problem.

The first step to solving a problem is to assign the blame. In
situations where there are multiple pieces of hardware or software
involved, it's always the other vendors fault. Please consider this a
fundamental law of nature.

>I have now had three on-line chats with Linksys tech support about the
>problem.

You have my sympathy. Recovery from talking to tech support can be
accelerated by engaging in non-computer related violent activities. I
favor cutting or splitting firewood when at home, and smashing a
computah into its fundamental component parts with a large hammer,
when at the office.

>The first two times my firmware was out of date by a single version
>and the they merely told me to update to the latest firmware and try it out.
>Neither of these solutions worked.

Good advice. I've recently experience problems with creative firmware
updates, beta versions leaked out of support, and different versions
on the web/ftp sites. What version do you have actually installed?
<http://www.linksysbycisco.com/ANZ/en/support/WAG160N>
<http://downloads.linksysbycisco.com/downloads/WAG160Nv1-EU-ANNEXA-ETSI-1.00.12-code.zip>

I dug through the Epson US page for info on the Epson Stylus SX600FW
printer, but didn't find anything. I switched to the UK Epson site,
and found it. There seems to be recent (April 7) network config and
driver updates at:
<http://esupport.epson-europe.com/ProductHome.aspx?lng=en-GB&data=YZnBT5wk60ZmILDgc0l2mbKZ12SnCwS2&tc=6#34>
Also, the "event manager" looks interesting if it will record
connectivity "events".

>During the latest chat with Linksys, a couple of days ago, they suggested
>creating a static ip address for the printer. I did this, following their
>instructions, but once again, within a matter of hours, the printer had
>vanished from the network and I was unable to print to it.

Hmmm... that was also my suggestion.

>Pinging the printer from both the laptop and the router, following the loss
>of connection, fails.

Was this ping failure with a static IP address? That should ALWAYS
work but only if the wireless client in the printer remains connected.
Leave the static IP address in place as it simplifies testing.

As long as the wireless client in the printer remains connected to the
router, you should be able to ping the printer. With a static IP, the
only thing left to fail is the wireless connection *FROM* the printer.
The connection cannot be initiated from the router side. If the
printer goes to sleep, or disconnects the wireless link from the
printer end, there's nothing you can do at the router or computer end
to wake it up.

My guess(tm) is that this is what's happening. If the printer goes
into power save mode, the wireless link disconnects and remains
disconnected until you do something on the printer end, like take it
out of the snooze mode. Did you try this? When the printer goes
comatose, and you have a static IP address, can you tap something on
the front panel of the printer to wake it up? If so, does it work
after you do that?

It seems that the WAG160N has some logging features:
<http://ui.linksys.com/files/WAG160N/1.00.09/setup.cgi@next_file=Log.htm>
Enable the logging and see if it shows anything useful.

>This problem is driving me nuts!

Insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly, and expecting different
results. Calling support 3 times qualifies.

>Anyone *any* ideas to help me with this?

1. Check the power save setting on the Epson. Shorten the timeout to
make testing easier.
2. Get a wireless sniffer that will sniff client traffic and see what
happens when the printer goes comatose. When alive, it should be
belching keep alive packets. If these cease, the router will think
the printer has gone away and drop the wireless link.
3. Check the setting for the printer in the driver configuration on
your laptop. There might be a timeout setting.
4. See if it works any differently with a wired ethernet connection.
5. Get a different printer. They're cheaper than your time is worth.

This might be worth digging through:
<http://www.fixya.com/tags/epson_sx600fw>

--
Jeff Liebermann jeffl@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558